As a leading girls’ school in Australia, St Catherine’s is committed to nurturing and empowering independent and globally responsive young women, enabling them to approach all their endeavours with confidence, wisdom and integrity. – St Catherine’s School Charter

As a School community, we help students find their sense of purpose in the world through an environment that integrates critical awareness, a social conscience and quality relationships. We inspire our students to not only own their learning but also understand and appreciate their own unique capacities and the world around them.

Boarding at St Catherine’s School provides our girls with a safe and comfortable living environment. They have the opportunity to make friends with girls from across Australia and around the world. Boarders are provided the freedom to socialise with friends and to explore Melbourne on organised weekend activities, as well as the opportunity to develop positive study habits and importantly, to have a lot of fun!

St Catherine’s prides itself on being a cohesive and unique School community. Current St Catherine’s families, along with our alumnae, future students, and current and past parents and staff, are all active, generous, enthusiastic and supportive members of the St Catherine’s School community.

Browse our latest news items, see what events are coming up, read what our teachers and Principal are writing about on Conscientia St Catherine’s Blog or be informed on the latest media coverage of St Catherine’s School.

Junior School Office - Barbreck

Early Learning Centre – Campbell House: The Ilhan Family Centre

From the Principal

The annual Leadership Handover Assembly, held on the final day of Term 3, officially marks our transition to the new student leaders of the School. This is an important milestone for our Years 11 and 12 girls, as we thank and congratulate the Year 12 Captains and welcome the incoming 2018 Captains.

On behalf of the School community, I thank Mackenzie Leyden and Georgie Sitch for their leadership this year as School Captain and Vice-Captain. This is a significant undertaking in Year 12, keeping in balance one’s academic studies, a commitment to co-curricular pursuits and the leadership responsibilities that come with such a role. The girls have ensured a very friendly approach and always demonstrated School pride, School spirit and an understanding of the essence of being a St Catherine’s girl. The girls have been well supported by an outstanding cohort of Year 12 girls; their commitment, energy and motivation has been felt by all. Their success as leaders has inspired girls to participate, to collaborate and to be fully immersed in the life of the school.

I hope the Year 12 girls have enjoyed their leadership opportunity this year, and learned some valuable life lessons along the way: how to prioritise, the importance of encouraging and inspiring others, always leading by example and a greater understanding of the responsibility and accountability that comes with being a leader. I encourage all our Year 12 students to be ambitious in their leadership aspirations for the future. Recently retired Governor General of Australia – Quentin Bryce – was quoted as saying that:

“Leadership is not a job: it is a quality, a quality that emerges in an individual who, over time, learns, and comes to accept as their prescription for life, the values that must underpin it.

If our actions align with our words, then we must know integrity.

If we accept ourselves and each other, we must know forgiveness.

If we see thoughts and feelings together, we must know empathy.

If we exercise choice, then we must know freedom.

If we are nourished by silence and reflection, then we must know restraint.

If we give without feeling diminished or owed, we must know generosity.

If we feel love, then we must know courage.

And if we have hope, then we must know faith.”

At Assembly today, we welcomed the 2018 Captains and Year 11 cohort to the roles of School leadership. This opportunity provides a voice to the girls through their leadership roles to bring forward ideas, to inspire and motivate their peers, to assist others and to demonstrate a willingness to accept responsibility. Congratulations to the following students:

School Captains

Stephanie Ferrali and Annabelle Motteram

Boarding Captains

Erin O’Brien and Natalie Chan

Beaulieu Blair House

Annabel Joubert and Emma Rodgers

Davis House

Sarah Wilson and Alexandra McBain

Holmes Kilbride House

Sarah Steven and Isabelle Gough

Langley Templeton House

Camilla Broome and Charlotte Sinclair

Art & Design

Charlotte Fortey and Jessica Caine

Community Service

Emily Kent and Madeleine Leggo

Debating & Public Speaking

Samara Gill and Isabel Gray

Drama

Demi Markakis

Duke of Edinburgh

Lucy Porter

Environment

Michelle Liberi

Magazine

Olivia Murdoch

Music Captains

Phoebe Hamilton and Maria Wu

Spirit & Wellbeing

Yasmin Spyrou

Sport Captains

Juliet Grant and Eleanor Millear

Over the course of the September break, our focus remains firmly with our Year 12 students who enter the final phase of their VCE Exam preparations. The Nicholas Library will remain open every day throughout the two weeks, providing a quiet place to study. A number of subject tutorials will also be held over the course of the break with trial exams commencing in the second week. I encourage the girls to strike an effective balance of enjoying a restful break, maintaining a healthy level of exercise and nutrition and developing an earnest study schedule.

As the School Term draws to a close, I wish our St Catherine’s families a restful and relaxing holiday. All students can be justly proud of their achievements this Term, with many girls committing wholeheartedly to their study and co-curricular pursuits. The capacity of our girls to ‘juggle’ numerous activities never ceases to amaze me and I am convinced this can only be made possible with the extraordinary level of support and guidance of our highly committed St Catherine’s parents. I do hope the girls remember to show their appreciation for their parents’ support and love over the holidays – I shall remind them at Assembly today!